Tempest is a reusable crew exploration vehicle (CEV) for transferring crew from the Earth to the lunar surface and back. Tempest serves as a crew transfer module that supports a 4-person crew for a mission duration of ...

The Argus reusable launch vehicle (RLV) concept is a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) conical, wingedbodied vehicle powered by two liquid hydrogen (LH2)/liquid oxygen (LOX) supercharged ejector ramjets (SERJ). The 3rd ...

The goal of this study was to explore the flight system options for the design of a long endurance Mars airplane mission. The mission model was built in the design framework ModelCenter and a combination of a hybrid and ...

Ultra lightweight ballutes offer revolutionary mass and cost benefits along with flexibility in flight system design compared to traditional entry system technologies. Under funding provided by NASA's Exploration Systems ...

Earth entry system options for human return missions from the Moon and Mars were analyzed and compared to identify trends among the configurations and trajectory options and to facilitate informed decision making at the ...

Ballute aerodynamic decelerators have been studied since early in the space age (1960’s), being proposed for aerocapture in the early 1980’s. Significant technology advances in fabric and polymer materials as well ...

Many authors have shown the potential mass savings that a ballute can offer for both aerocapture and entry. This mass savings could enhance or even enable many scientific and human exploration missions. Prior to flight ...

Traditionally mass estimation for conceptual design of advanced launch vehicles has depended on historically based mass estimating relationships (MERs). This paper compares the modern MERs used in the Space Systems Design ...

This paper describes the design of a solar electric propulsion module for the Bifrost architecture. Bifrost consists of a magnetic levitation launch tube with the exit end elevated to 20 km. A 35,000 kg hybrid logistics ...

The goal of this study was to determine the best system level modeling tool for the design of a long endurance Mars airplane mission, and to use this tool to determine the best configuration for the aircraft. The mission ...